Former Protestant Pastor tells why he LOVES being Catholic

thank you so much for inviting me to be here you know I for so many people to refer Jacqui to talk to me it's pretty much a privilege for me to be able to be here and do this I I was here not too long ago in December sharing my conversion story so this is not going to be just a repeat of that but for those of you that don't know anything about me I was a pastor for 22 years in Protestant churches and I joined the church the Catholic Church October 8th of 2017 my take of it was was different than than many people here so for me to be here as a Catholic now it's a it's a miraculous thing and I couldn't be more grateful so I have a perspective that when I answer that question about what's so great about being Catholic I have multiple perspectives one of the things I want to talk about comes from a theological perspective you know one of the things that are so great about being Catholic when you think about what what the teaching of the church is another perspective it is a cultural perspective because there's differences culturally between being a Protestant and being a Catholic some things are just different from a cultural perspective and then of course there's the personal things that go into to who you are and what's God's doing in your life and I want to share something about each of those with you today so let me just state a couple facts okay and by a couple I mean five and those are just my intro okay get ready but I promise I won't go over my time number one I'm still a Catholic I say that today because sometimes when people make big changes it's a phase right sometimes when people get on board with something they get all fired up about something and then eventually it goes away anybody have a New Year's resolution they didn't keep you were gonna lose the that weight you were gonna eat that food you were gonna do all these things maybe even in your in your spiritual life you were gonna pray that prayer or you were gonna do that fast and then it started and then it stopped you know and I'm sure in my life there are plenty of people that looked at me and said he's just gonna walked out trip right now he'll get over it I haven't it's been over a year now and I don't see it stopped at anytime soon so number two I'm more in love with my faith as a Catholic now than I ever thought I could be and in my life used to be professionally leading people to Jesus disciple in people that was what I did every single day that's what got me up in the morning and I'm here to tell you today that even though that's not what I do for a job anymore I'm more passionate about it now than I ever have been and I believe it's because of being Catholic number three being Catholic has cost me now I don't say that so that you'll feel sorry for me okay I'm not here today to elicit pity because that's the last thing anybody should have for me because I'm Way better off now than I ever have been but it hasn't been easy but I'll tell you this it's been worth it it's been worth it and I'll come back to this in a minute number four I'm not an expert on the church I'm not a scholar even though I spent years and years researching theology and reading things about the Catholic Church and books and and and listening to talks all of that I have learned so much in this last year that I'm very much a child in the faith and every day I live to grow and learn more and number five despite that I have converted I don't hate Protestants I don't vilify Protestants Protestants are not my enemy and they shouldn't be yours either I don't hate them and I don't appreciate anybody that does I'm not one of those guys that's out to bash anybody because of what I've done and that's so important that you understand that because what's so great about being Catholic so many things but our faith I look at it more as a shield that is there to protect me not a sword that I used to attack others so that's important too so when I give this talk about what's so great about being Catholic there's a perspective here that shapes how I feel and I think it's best summed up through the parable that our Lord tells us in Matthew's Gospel chapter 13 verse 44 Jesus says this the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field when a man found it he hid it again and then in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field now for me as a pastor for 22 years to become a Catholic men a choice career financial and professional security and everything that goes along with that or follow Jesus and to what I have come to realize is an amazing treasure his church now that's probably not your story I don't know if anybody else in this room used to be a Protestant pastor and you left that to become Catholic that's probably not your story but what I understand here is that each of us whether we're a cradle Catholic or revert Catholic or a convert we all have the same call according to this text and it's a call to sacrifice ourselves and to sell out for the treasure which is the gospel it's a call to a deeper level of discipleship no matter where you start from see I started out there some of you started right in here either way the call is the same we're all headed in the same direction and it really doesn't matter where we start from does it it matters where we finished right and we all know where God's called us to finish amen so as you hear what I have to say take away from it whatever helps but more importantly consider what your answer is to the question what's so great about being Catholic now you know what's funny I did not heard either of these talks before I had no idea what they were gonna be and I think that's the Lord because what I'm gonna tell you is pretty much the same thing but isn't that amazing how we all come to the same thing in different ways and when we come in different ways we come with different perspectives so I'm gonna tell you what my great things are I have three of them the first one is this Authority now that's awesome word in it authority everyone nobody loves that word Authority because people run from Authority I think part of our fallen nature is that we hear the word authority and we immediately want to back away from that and say why should I listen to what anybody else wants to tell me that is me that's me but when I say authority I don't think of it so much as someone telling someone what to do or else I mean the ability to accurately define and apply the Christian faith that's what I mean is so great about of the authority of the church it's the church's ability to accurately define and apply the Christian faith years ago I was having a breakfast with a guy from my church and we were discussing some things about the church that he was upset about because when you're a pastor and the father's know this that's what you get to do a lot of times you get to meet with people and they get to tell you the things about the church that they're upset about it's a great day well he was really upset you want to know why I was upset because we did this thing in our church called Ash Wednesday you ever hear of it yeah see there's some Protestants that have lent to and the church I went to we had that and this guy was bent out of shape because we did Ash Wednesday and he sat me down in the high V deli over there on Locust Street and he wanted to say to me this show me brother where Ash Wednesday is in the Bible show me where it is in the Bible and he had this big giant Bible right and he was shaking that thing right there the high B deli and he's like show me where in the Bible last Wednesday is and of course I couldn't do that because Ash Wednesday isn't in the Bible so if anybody asks you don't don't don't look like a fool trying to fumble through the Bible looking for it because it's not there so he went off he went off on me and he said we are Bible believing Christians everything we do must be taught in the Bible and he holds his Bible up this is the Word of God and if what we're doing in our church isn't found here in this book then we should get rid of it now I was getting a little riled up and maybe it's because I had been listening to all of these Catholic talks that my friends were give me and stuff to read and listen to some of this stuff was like seeping into my soul but you know I said to him well how do you know what books even belong in the Bible how do you know that I thought that was a great comeback it's pretty good comeback in it Scott Hahn said that somewhere and this guy did something that just it was hard not to laugh but I but I didn't but he opened up the Bible to the table of contents and he pointed to it and he said right there's where it says and I did say to him I said you cuz I'm a little bit just kid just so you know I'm a little bit of a smart aleck okay and I just say to him I said you do realize that that the table of contents wasn't written before Genesis right you do realize that he didn't understand that and I said well how do you even know who what who wrote the table of contents how do you even know who wrote those books of the Bible that aren't that it they're anonymous like the first one and he points to the commentary he says it says right there the book of Moses and I said well that's not in the Bible that was written about the Bible you got to understand now my point was to show him that in addition to Scripture tradition and history are important too and he looked at me and he was disgusted with me and he didn't have any idea what I was talking about he saw no difference see in his mind it alone and I started to think about that you see we all know that we need some authority outside of ourselves to tell us what the truth is and as a Protestant that's what I believe it was I believe it was the Bible but that led to all sorts of problems that I was having because how many others with the same Bible were coming to vastly different conclusions and we all believed that we were simply following the clear teaching of the scripture for example I have friends today that believe it is of fundamental importance to accept the clear biblical teaching that the earth is 6,000 years old I have friends today that that still keep the Jewish feasts of Leviticus 23 and they don't eat shellfish report because the Bible says so and they believe that anyone who does otherwise is unbiblical in the denomination where I came from women were ordained as pastors only those since 1956 when they changed their doctrine they point out scriptures to justify their position others disagree with that position based on other different scriptures and other people have other texts and some people argue about whether babies should be baptized or whether babies should be dedicated and everyone's all got the same book in front of them and this was the problem that I was having one denomination I was a part of believe that all of its pastors must speak in tongues others believe that those gifts died off with the last apostle let's understand this that even with your outside authority being the Bible there's still a lot of work to do isn't there and I don't buy the bumper sticker that says the Bible says that I believe it that settles it it sounds good but it's not that easy you see why I appreciate this so much as a Catholic and one of the things that drew me to the Catholic faith was that I realized that it's not up to me to figure all this out God didn't just give us a book and the Holy Spirit and say sort through it on your own have fun with that he gave us the gift of his church to Shepherd us to protect us and to instruct his flock and I'm not here today to go into all the apologetics associated with that idea that's a whole different talk but I'm just telling you that for me and my perspective I realized how important this is there is absolute pandemonium right now in the denomination that I came from absolute pandemonium right now and they don't know what they're going to do because they don't know how to justify or why their interpretation of the scripture should be any better than anyone elses and I got to a point where I couldn't engage in any meaningful conversation anymore because I realized that we no longer had an objective standard of truth we had our own version of it our own interpretations of it and when you start with yourself and make God and the faith fit into your own image it's pretty easy to get off the rails and I can't tell you for me how freeing it is not to have to do that anymore I can't tell you how freeing it is for me not to have to try to figure all of this out on my own but instead of the question of what do you think this means now I get to say the question what does the church teach that is powerful stuff right there because when I say what does the church teach I don't mean just the local church down the street that started because somebody got mad and left because they didn't like the color of the carpet or the music or a pastor made him mad I'm talking about the church that was started by Jesus Christ when he gave this authority to his apostles and he said preach the kingdom of the heaven and forgive sins do this in memory of me go throughout all the world all these verses that I knew well when I recognized how that fit in with the theology of the church and how the church is the pillar and foundation of truth then it all clicked for me that you know what this wasn't just made up Jesus did this and if Jesus did it shouldn't we receive that it's incredibly important to me everything flows from that issue of authority because even in those moments when my own mind is is is rocked or I can't understand something or I feel in my heart like I might disagree or not understand I can rest in the promises of God that the gates of hell is for and said will not prevail against God's church the second thing for me that's so great about being Catholic it's the mass now by Nature I am NOT built for the mass of the Roman Catholic Church I'm sorry I'm just not I love loud rock and roll music I love light shows I love in-your-face sermons that last a long time I love fun I love powerful experiences so if you would have told me someday you would be in love with the liturgical Roman Catholic Mass and even the Latin Mass sometimes Jackie I would have been like you are crazy see the way I thought I the way I lived my life is essentially how I designed my youth ministry and different things that I was doing in my favorite moments in church were always these spontaneous moments where they were intense and it would drive me crazy when I would go to a church and it would be this boring dull liturgy and some little lame sermonette consisting of cute stories and little moral nuggets that I felt more suited for Sesame Street than the word of than the worship of the Living God I'd be like what is this so if you'd have told me someday I'd be head over heels in love with the mass oh man I'd have been crazy I told you you were crazy but I'll tell you what I have it's amazing and like so many other converts one of the most important ways I was drawn into the church was by simply just going to a daily Mass when I was really struggling with whether I should convert or not that's one of the things I did I've just head downtown I live in Cedar Rapids and I would leave my church office go downtown over lunch hour and just go to daily Mass and I couldn't believe the devotion of these people that I saw every day walking in there and there was no sermon there was no rock band there was no Starbucks none of that right and yet these people were there and I remember asking asking my my priests one day saying saying to him why don't you preach at the daily Mass and he said something that blew me away cuz he's a great preacher he said because I don't want ever for the people to think it's about me and what I had to say Jesus is enough and I thought wow pretty powerful pretty powerful yet still love loud music I still love all those fun exciting things the cool light shows and all the fun things I used to do but something has changed in me that I can't explain other than to say I have come to understand what makes the mass so special and of course it's the Eucharist so in my notes right that I put up here I have this this heading because I couldn't think of anything else to say aspects of the mass that I think Rock harder than shredding guitars okay number one the focus of the mass is on the literal presence of Jesus not on a human beings ability to capture my attention or entertain me okay think about that for a second the focus of the mass is on the actual literal presence of Jesus not on some guys ability or some girl's ability to make me go wow that's amazing or man that's awesome or whatever see it was exhausting for me as a pastor to deal with the reality that people's faith often hinged on my ability to become compelling entertaining and brief right when I was a preacher or a worship leader I would often be criticized or praised based on my performance and neither one felt right see cuz I wasn't the point this was supposed to be about God right then why did it so often feel like it was up to me to be funny charming smart all of this stuff naturally because that's how I viewed my role I would also evaluate other churches in that way too you see in my former world that the role of pastor or performer frontman is so central it's often the key to whether churches succeed or fail and when I started attending Mass this is the culture shock part that hit me the priest wasn't the star of the show you know that was different for me I wasn't used to that it was a completely new concept to me and as crazy as it sounded to me it was so refreshing it was so awesome I was loving the difference I remember discussing this with my with my wife Estelle who's sitting over there who like Jackie was born and raised in Philadelphia it's crazy and you know still night we're talking about this because we had had a particularly rough morning and mass we'd gone to Mass we're still learning things we're trying to get back into this thing and she's a revert to I pulled her out of the Catholic Church when we started dating told her you need to come with me and get saved you know look at how that worked out her parents loved it anyway um we had a rough morning you see we went to Mass and and we walked in and nobody was particularly welcoming to us we sat down and there were screaming babies everywhere we couldn't hear a thing it was echoing loud we didn't know what was going on the priests microphone didn't work right and it was rough and it was just it was not a pleasant situation you know and and we were driving home and I thought to myself you know okay I have a choice to make about this I can either be like super critical and say well maybe I should go talk to the father and see if we can make this a little bit more user-friendly or this thought hit me I thought and I said to Estelle I said I wonder if when the ancient Israelites went to the Temple in Jerusalem and sacrifices were being offered there on the altar if anybody was wondering why the pews weren't padded enough or where was the coffee and the answer was no we would not know what I've ever dared to say anything like that and we said well isn't that what we're celebrating in the mass and praise God all those little kids are in there with their parents because so many people in the church churches I would come from that there's no way in the world having a baby was I could get out of church free card so praise God but but some of the things were we're just culture shock to us but I remember feeling like this is different and the ultimate focus of the mass being Jesus Christ not the people sitting in the seats was new to me see many churches today are what we would either call seeker-sensitive you guys know what a seeker sensitive churches a seeker sensitive church is a church that starts with its framework being the person sitting in the pews that doesn't have a relationship with Jesus Christ how will they feel and they come to our church so we want to make sure that it's not very religious we want to make sure that it's not threatening we want to make sure that it's entertaining that it's very hospitable and you know we want to make sure that we don't scare them away so we have music that they that they would find appealing sometimes even secular music we have you know other things around them that will make them feel comfortable because the the priority and the focus is on we want them to come back right other churches and I'm just talking about Protestants for saying other churches have gone the complete opposite route and said we're not doing that church is for believers so we're not going to care whether non-believers like our church or not we're gonna have intense hardcore Bible preaching sermons that are in your face we're gonna we're gonna sing old style hymns and we're gonna make it as as stuffy in here as we possibly can it's gonna be hard and if you leave that's because you're a wimp right because we're all about believers in here so I came from either one of those extremes and then I found the Catholic Mass to be something completely transcendent above any of that so the mass is something completely different it isn't seeker centered or believer said it's jesus centered you see that's what it's about it's Jesus centered and when you experience that in a real way it'll blow your mind it'll blow your mind the second aspect about the mass that rocks harder than shredding guitars is this this is a shorter one so I'm just going to say it you can take my word for it you already know this anyway the mass is more biblical than anything that I've ever experienced it's amazing when you realize how almost everything that happens in the mass is right out of the Bible I'm not just talking about the readings although I would bet you that you'll hear more scripture and a mass than you will an 80% of other churches it's the prayers the liturgy the music and even that the stuff like incense it has its roots in the scriptures you can't tell me the mass isn't biblical the Bible is held in processed high we stand for the gospel readings out of reverence I've been blown away by how biblical the mass was it's one of the things that convinced me that the mass was true when I realized how biblical it is and the number three the third thing about the mass that rocks harder than shredding guitars is this the mass is truly participatory in a way that has transformed and is continuing to transform me so we don't just go to sit and watch it's not about the show we stand to confess our sins when we say the Creed you know I can't just come to Mass and check out I don't know about you I hear a lot of Catholics do that but I can't do that yet I can't come and just check out I stand together with everyone and I confess my sins with all the millions of faithful Catholics across the world I recite this Creed that defines Who I am as a believer in Jesus Christ and together we cry out to God Lord hear our prayer we bowed together before the risen Christ present in the Eucharist and then together we move forward to receive him you know I used to love altar calls you know what altar calls are altar calls is that moment in the service where you say if any person wants to receive Jesus Christ let him get out of his seat and come forward right now and say a prayer and receive the Lord I love that kind of stuff that's how I got saved when I was a kid I love things that call you to do something that that it's call you to make a change and someone asked me one time why don't Catholics ever do that and I thought about it for a second I'm like wait a second don't we do that every single mass think about that truthfully it's really only the Catholics that have altar calls because without the sacrifice of the Eucharist on the altar it's just a table it isn't even an altar without that so it's truly the mass where you're called every single time you go to get up out of your seat to come down forward and publicly profess your faith in the risen Christ when the priest looks at you and says the body of Christ and you say Amen you are saying yes to Jesus in that moment I believe everything you're saying about me I believe who you say I am I believe what your church teaches I believe that you are the risen Christ and I'm ready to receive you not just into my heart but into every aspect of me that is the king of all altar calls it's amazing that's what I think about every time I go I could go on for this for hours you see when the focus of the mass is Jesus himself then all the other things I used to have to get so worked up about just don't matter how good is the preacher how awesome is the band what does the room feel like how good of a job have we done advertising our programs now don't get me wrong I love good preaching and I think it's a shame when anybody even a priest mails it in when it comes to their homilies but it doesn't change what happens on the altar I love great music and I think it's a shame if we go to Mass and we don't hear great music but it doesn't wreck my experience or change what happens on the altar I think you get the point I'm making here you see we don't have to make the mass more appealing to the world by making it more fun and cool we just need to keep Christ as the focus and give our all with excellence to whatever we do so if you're a preacher then preach your guts out when you get a chance if you're a reader in Mass then read with clarity and reverence if you are a musician please sing on with love and emotion in your voice if you're the person whose job it is is to welcome people and and pass out the missile let's then do that with the warm smile in your heart be welcoming write participate if you're just going to mass like I do participate fully with passion be genuine and loving towards others sing from the heart lift your voice to God during the responses and when the priest elevates the host and says behold the lamb of God behold him who takes away the sins of the world then behold him with all of your heart don't just think well okay we're almost done behold the lamb of God that's a command by the way that's a command and it's the most important part of what we do recognize what is truly happening here for you all of this has radically changed me and how I worship and I couldn't be more grateful one last thing man I'm doing good on time one last thing for me the third aspect about what's so great about being Catholic as a convert now I talked a little bit about theology with thority culturally with the mass now I'm gonna talk about personal for me the last great thing about being Catholic that I can share today has to do with the part of the Creed that says the communion of the saints see I can't believe how I had never heard of so many of the great Saints of the Christian faith reading their words about their lives has been amazing to me my wife gave me I think for Christmas last year she gave me this book that contains the letters of st. Ignatius of Antioch who lived in the 1st and 2nd century and he wrote these letters on his way to his execution in Rome and in these letters they discuss the authority of the bishops the Eucharist and so many amazing things not to mention the fact that he actually tells his followers not to try to rescue him and this was powerful for me to read because I felt like I was in my own time a trial when she gave this to me and I read these words and something like changed in me in my heart personally he wrote these words 2,000 years ago on his way to his execution I am God's wheat and shall be ground by the teeth of wild animals I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way I plead with you show me no untimely kindness let me be food for the wild beasts for they are my way to God I am God's wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ's pure bread pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God no earthly pleasures no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way I prefer death in Jesus Christ to power over the farthest limits of the earth he who died in place of us is the one object of my quest he who rose for our sakes is my one desire that's the treasure hidden in the field and when I read those words I thought you know what I can never get worked up about not having a job ever again I can never fear financial unsecured 'ti or or things that are uncertain in my life or mourn the loss of things that were so dear to me anymore this guy was willing to be eaten by lions because he found the treasure that was hidden in the field and he was willing to sell everything he had for it that's a pretty powerful thing isn't it that rocked me personally blew my mind what blows my mind even more has been the eye-opening reality that these Saints guys like Ignatius of Antioch and others that they play an active role in our lives and in our faith to this day that we can ask for their intercession and that as the book of Revelation describes their prayers are offered up to God like incense the book of Hebrews chapter 12 says that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses think about what that means they're with us they're here they see us they intercede for us the reality is that we are not in this alone I am NOT in this alone you are not in this alone the saints of God and especially our Blessed Mother are here for us cheering us on praying for us available to us see the Catholic Church is a family one that doesn't stop when death occurs think about what happened when Jesus went up on the Mount of Transfiguration who did he talk with Moses and Elijah two dead guys right and I'm supposed to talk to the dead someone didn't tell Jesus that on the way up the mountain of Transfiguration they're not dead how many times in history has the Blessed Mother appeared to bring encouragement love and even warnings to people on behalf of her son what about the miracles that have occurred the miracle of a son in Fatima the miracle in Las Lajas in Colombia and so many others all of these things show us the reality of the true nature of the kingdom of heaven that it's not just about us here were not alone in all of this and for me personally as I've journeyed through this part of my life this has been amazing to me I've always held up the Apostles and the scriptures as my heroes in faith but remember what Jesus said to them blessed are those who have not seen me and still believe there doesn't need to be a 2000 year gap in our heroes and I'm just beginning to scratch the surface and my own knowledge and appreciation of the Saints and I have so many yet to discover but so far a year into this I'm blown away great and to think they're all Catholic they all believed in the Eucharist they all profess the authority of the Pope the way that we worship is essentially the way that they worship here on earth and of course the way we'll all worship together in heaven that's pretty awesome isn't it that's pretty great personally the rosary has become very important to me this has the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel because we need that don't we I need that I need her prayers and I need his protection and I'm so thankful they are available now I'm only scratching the surface here today there are so many more things I could share with you about and I hope and pray that I will have the chance to continue to do that throughout my life in one way or another well my hope would be for you that hearing how great these things are to me as a convert as a guy who didn't believe it but now does that it might cause you to stoke the fires of revival in your own heart maybe for you these things have become just routine or stale or just what we do ask God today to fan the flame as he as st. Paul said to Timothy fan the flame of the spiritual gift God gave you may your love for God grow today may your love for his church also grow and despite all the negative things that we are being faced with today as Catholics and believe me I hear it a lot too because people say how could you do that look what's going on may we still know and love what is so great about being Catholic thanks so much for listening to me

Channel: Keith Nester

Views: 239,904

Rating: 4.8364568 out of 5

Keywords: Roman Catholic, Catholic, Catholic Convert

Id: uyO3fDhXuyE

Length: 36min 55sec (2215 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 26 2018